A recent story about steroids has brought a great deal of scrutiny to the game of baseball by questioning the use by players over the past two decades. For those of you who don't religiously watch "SportsCenter" in the morning, Jose Conseco, a former MLB Most Valuable Player, has published a book in which he exposes the rampant use of steroids by himself and former teammates.
While Canseco's motives have made people question the validity of his claims, it is making more sense to people than believing a 40-year-old man put on 50 pounds of muscle overnight with hard work.
For the past few months, this issue has primarily been discussed by sports writers debating whether the numerous records that have been broken in the past few years should stand. But after a long wait, lawmakers have finally recognized the importance of this social issue.
This past week, House Rep. Thomas Davis (R-Va.) said through a spokesperson that players like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi may be called forward to testify in front of a House committee about their involvement with steroids. If the players were called forward, they would likely seek immunity, which would further complicate prosecution efforts against the individuals. However the Justice Department has made it clear that it is just looking for the players' help to solve the overall equation.
I know this may seem like more of a sports-related issue to some, which may be true. We could be talking about newer issues in Iraq or a lame recap of Bush's trip to Europe. But when a problem that involves a pure game like baseball can make it all the way to Washington, it transcends into an important social issue. It is disheartening to see role models and sports heroes avoid questions on narcotics like common street thugs.
This is an epidemic in a professional sport. If steroid use was this out of control in high schools, where it is more common than people realize, local communities and the government would be in an uproar. Why have we waited this long to finally recognize the issue for what it is?
The toughest obstacle is Major League Baseball. After a 1994 players strike, fans were reluctant to come back to a game that had exposed its greed so readily. After the home run frenzy that began with Mark McGwire (also mentioned in Canseco's book), attendance suddenly went up.
The commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, recently defended his soft stance by further pressing the importance of these players to increasing franchise revenues. It should also be noted, without getting into specifics, that penalties for using steroids, even from the recently updated drug policy, are so loose that it hardly matters if you get caught. Fortunately for the players, anyone who uses steroids is familiar with how cycles and clearing substances work. Getting caught would be harder than actually acquiring the drug.
Another problem with assigning any penalty is the fact that there has never been such a large issue regarding performance-enhancing drugs and athletes. In baseball, the only story that compares is Pete Rose, who is banned for allegedly gambling on games. Somehow drug use is almost viewed as an indicator of a player's work ethic. I don't really see a difference between baseball's cover-up in this and insider trading on the stock market. Individuals are in prison for taking a friend's advice on investments, yet celebrity sports figures will go into the Hall of Fame having cheated in similar ways. This is an outrage.
When baseball comes back to Washington this spring, parents will be looking for some relaxation and their children will be admiring the players on the field. I don't believe that since their heroes use steroids, children will turn around and stick a needle in their butt to enhance their performance in tee-ball. I do, however, believe players need to swallow their pride and speak out against the drug.
With players like Giambi suffering rare intestinal side effects of steroids, he could send a positive message to our youth. Until that day comes and Hell freezes over, I will continue to grit my teeth watching celebrities slip through the cracks in the legal system ... again.
